Frequency of the Heart
by ExpressImagination
Summary: Every day comes with a new lesson. The trick is to listen. Sometimes the hardest lessons are on a frequency we just cant hear yet. Ben Mason / OC
1. Chapter 1

Frequency of the Heart

Chapter 1

Patience. A simple word but a hard lesson. Patience was something that Abagail had struggled with her whole life. Her number one instinct has always been to run in guns blazing. Even before the invasion she had a way of finding herself in hot water. Before the invasion her struggle with patience would get her into detention or worse case scenario she would find herself in a fist fight. Now, everything was different. Her lack of patience could cost lives and even with the stakes being so high she still had to fight the urge to jump down from the tree where she sat.

She had been there for hours, sitting and waiting. Before the sun came up she and four others from her resistance group had scurried up the trees near the work camp. They had been staking out the site for a week now. Watching and waiting as the skitter daily brought the harnessed kids to work on what looked to be mining operation. This was the first group of harnessed kids their resistance had come across in months. The invaders had moved onto other ways of controlling the population and slowly the resistance saw less and less harnessed kids. But something about this place was important enough for the invaders to keep the harnessed kids working. So naturally it was something the leaders of her resistance wanted to keep an eye on. But all Abagail wanted to do was jump down and kill the skitter and mech and save those poor kids. After all most of them were only a few years younger then her.

At 16, Abagail was more adult then child but somehow she felt a connection with the kids. Just over a year and a half ago, she had been one of those kids. Harnessed and working in conditions that should in theory kill them. That was before her family had found her, before she had any idea what had happened to the earth. Abagail had been at cheerleading camp in Boston when the invasion started. She was one of the first children taken and harnessed. Honestly, she didnt remember most of it. When she tried to think of that day she only got emotions; fear, confusion and anger. Their doctor back at camp said it was probly a mental block, her body trying to protect her from her own memories.

Abagail whipped her head around as she heard a second mech approaching. She searched the tree ahead of her across the road. She met the concerned eyes of her eldest brother, Nathan. There shouldn't be a secondary Mech. There has been one for the past week, why now? Behind the mech marched another group of kids, there had to be at least 30 more harnessed kids. Abagail's eyes widened and she searched for her brother again. She saw him crouched in his tree with his sniper pointed but he was looking at her giving her the signal to wait and watch. The exact thing Abagail didnt want to do! But she knew rash behaivor would get their team killed so she watched anxiously as the mech marched the kids through the passage and into the work camp. The skitter in charge looked frantic as it tried to connect with all the extra kids and tell them their jobs. Abagail had never seen a skitter in charge of so many children at once and she could tell that it was taking its toll on the skitter.

The Mech stood guard and that's how they stayed till the sun went down. Abagail twitched in her tree; her legs were numb, her patience gone and she really had to pee. She was relieved that the sun was going down because that meant the camp would be cleared out and she would be able to get down and return home to give her report and to pee. She looked over at her brother and he was doing the same dance. They had been there well over 13 hours. That's the longest time they had ever had to stand watch on a site. They waited for the skitter, mechs and kids to move on. But they didnt. The moon was now well in the sky and the skitter had all the kids pile ontop of each other and get ready to sleep. They had never stayed before! How were they supposed to get down?

Abagails brother gave her the sign for stay and he slowly climbed down the tree. Abagail pulled out her handgun and got ready to cover him. This wasn't going to end well, there was no way Nathan was gonna get past the two mech without being seen. She wanted to yell at him for being an idiot and stop him but she knew better. Any sound at all and her brother would be dead. Nathan's feet hit the ground and he creeped slowly towards the woods where the communication unit had been hidden. He made it almost out of earshot when Abagail heard a snap and rustle of leaves. She looked to her left and down the road just less then a mile she saw Catlynn laying on the floor bleeding. She was covered with leaves and the tree branch she had been sitting on all day had managed to stab her through the thigh when she hit the ground.

Abagail snapped her head back as she heard the mech spin up and start to move. Without a second thought Abagail aimed her gun and shot the mech twice in hydraulic on its left arm. She saw it sputter oil and fall dead to its side. As she readjusted and got ready to shoot again she heard gunfire from across the lane. Jason had jumped down from his tree and ran to his girlfriend laying on the floor. Abagail shot again at the mech and hit its second arm but this time it didnt go dead. As she reset she heard the second mech let off its gun towards the road. As it walked it the spray of bullets got closer to her friends holding their ground on their road. Jason managed to shoot out the arm of the second mech but they both were heading towards the couple. Abagail Shot at the first mech again and this time the shot hit its target. The Mech's arm gave off a small explosion that knocked the mech to the ground. As it writhed on the floor, Abagail shifted her sights to the secondary Mech. It was passed her now. It was closing in on Jason and Catlynn with its back to Abagail. There was no way for her to shoot at her normal soft spot.

Abagail jumped down from the tree, when she landed her ankle gave out and she fell. Struggling to shake her legs awake she shot heard shots coming from the woods her brother had earlier snuck out of. She looked up from the ground to see her brother Nathan running through the woods shooting a large cut off shot gun. Abagail gave a sigh of relief as she recognized the gun she had nicknamed "The Traitor". It was one of 15 guns they had been able to make and retrofit to shoot bullets made out of the downed Mechs.

Pins and needles ran through her legs as Abagail tried to get back up on her feet. She finally hoisted herself back up, only to be knocked down again from behind. She felt long arms of the Skitter trying to pin her down as she struggled against it. She could feel the spikes in the back of her neck trying to activate. The skitter was trying to get in. But Abagail had learned how to close off her mind to the skitters. She closed her eyes as she was pinned to the ground and tried to fight the skitter. Physically it was winning but she wouldn't let it win mentally; never again.

Abagail heard a loud bang of a mech hitting the ground. And seconds later the skitter that had her pinned was backing away writhing in pain. Not sure what was happening she grasped for her gun. Grabbing her gun in one final sweep of her arm she shot the skitter right in the head. It fell to the ground and Abagail looked up in confusion. Before she could put together what had happened she felt strong hands on her shoulders.

"Abby, are you okay?" It was her brother, Nathan. She looked at him with confusion across her face.

"What happened Nate? That Skitter should have killed me! Then it just grabbed it head and started screaming. Did you do something?"

"I have no idea" her brother answered. "The Mech just turned off before i ever got to it. One second it was firing the and the next, it just shut down. I shot it just for good measure but i didn't take it down. That other Mech you shot down is turned off too."

Abagail followed her brothers gaze and the he was right. The mech that had been trying to get up was lying on the floor completely shut off. Nathan helped Abagail to her feet as they heard a car screeching around the curve in the road. Abagail watched quietly as Doc Hill ran up to Catlynn and started assessing her. As Abagail watched the doctor and Jason lift Catlynn into the medical vehicle she heard a deep voice through the fog of concern.

"I thought you said you needed help Nate. Looks like you guys did just fine without us."

Abagail looked up to see her father standing just a few feet in front of them. Even though it had been two years since the invasion, her dad still wore his army uniform daily and carried himself in the military manner she had become accustomed to her whole life.

"Just like you dad. Missing all the fun." Nathan quipped as he gave their father a small playful punch.

Abagails' head felt so strange. She barely heard the bantering going on. Something felt off. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Abby? You Okay?" it was her dad.

"I don't know. I mean I'm not hurt. I'm just. Fuzzy"

"Fuzzy? Did you hit your head?"

"No, well i don't think so. I just have this weird feeling. Almost like, a silence. It's so loud"

She could tell she wasn't making any sense but Abagail didn't know how else to explain it. Her gaze crossed over to the harnessed kids and she got a sense of what was going on.

Because their faces looked the same as she felt.

"The communications are down."

"what? Abby your getting all creepy on us" her brother said with a hint of concern in his voice.

"The Invader's Communications. They are down. I don't hear anything. No Skitters, no mechs. Nothing. It's like my receiver in my spikes are broken. Except i think all of theirs are too" she finished by pointing towards the kids.


	2. Chapter 2

Frequency of the Heart

Chapter 2

It had taken them well over an hour to gather all of the harnessed children and get them into vans so they could transport them back to their camp. There were well over 50 kids and all of them were like empty shells, they just shuffled along. Abagail still had a weird feeling but it was getting easier to focus on the conversations around her. She sat in the back of her fathers' car with her eyes closed, just listening. She listened as her father and brother discussed their theories over what was going on with the invaders communications. But Abagail couldnt think about anything except drawing. She hadn't been able to concentrate on drawing since she had been back with her family. She had loved it. She was determined when she younger that when she grew up she was gonna be a famous artist. But ever since she got the harness taken off she hadn't be able to sit down and draw. It was like it was turned off in her brain. But now, she had this sudden and strong urge to draw. Anything, Everything. It was like her brain was turned on again and she could see the beauty in the world.

She felt the car stop and she opened her eyes and looked out into her home. They were underground. A unfinished parking garage in a small town just outside of Boston under a airport. It was origionally made for long term parking for the airport. They had lived there for the better part of the last two years. For a pieced together community of refugee's it was a pretty sight. It had running water and crops thanks to some very smart scientists. They had joined her father and brothers just days after the invasion and they had helped build the community they called home. Sections of the parking garage were boarded up with wood making individual housing units. There was a food storage room, a kitchen, a school room for the children and even some old outdoor toys the group had salvaged. It was home.

Abagail got out of the car and she distinctivly heard her father barking orders. The first thing they would do is get those harnesses off the kids. Luckily they had gotten enough meds to take harnesses off 300 kids a few months back. And Doc Hill had gotten quiet good at it. They had saved over 80 kids so far and only 2 had died. Abagail moved through the crowds of people who were moving to help with the kids and she slipped silently into her family's housing area. She could see her father's coffee sitting on the table. She bent down and picked up chair he had obviously knocked over getting up when he heard we needed help.

In the corner she could hear the cb radio that her father constantly running. He was just so sure that someone was gonna find a way to fight the invaders on a big scale and he wanted to be able to help them when they reached out for help. But so far all they had heard was messages of death and of people giving up. She walked over to the radio and touched it. Something about the constant sound coming from the small box was comforting and familiar. She stood there for several minutes just listening to the buzzing. Then it came to life. A voice came through, a womans voice.

"If anyone is out there, please listen. My name is Anne Mason. Last night my husband Tom Mason took a ship to the moon. His mission was to take out the energy plant on the moon. The energy plant shot energy from the moon down to all the Tech and war machines of the Espheni. He succeeded. We watched as the energy plant exploded. And we have seen the Mechs and Skitters fall to pieces. We know that you have all lost alot, we all have..."

There was a pause in the talking. Abagail ran to the door and opened it. She spotted her dad and shouted as loud as she could.

"Dad! The radio! Come quick!"

She quickly ducked back into the room and began listening again.

"... we are asking for you to think about our lives before the invasion. Think of the hope you had for your futures. Think about what it was to live a full life. We know that there arent alot of us left. And we know you are tired and scared but we are gonna ask it anyways. Help us, help us take down Espheni. They are wounded, they are weak. Now we need you to help us stand up. Stand up and take our home back! Please..." a few more moments of silence passed "... don't let the people we lost be in vain"

The box went silent then and Abagail looked back at her father who was standing in the door way panting and listening. Then the box starting crackling again and the recording started again. They both sat and listened to the message again. By the time it had ended the second time there was a mass of people by the door listening. Abagail sat down on the bed and looked up at her dad.

"What now?" she asked still in shock.

"Do you think it's real? It could be a trap." Nathan piped in from the door.

"yeah, it could be. Or it could be real." her dad answered back.

"Anne Mason? Isn't Mason the name of the group of people who took down the ghetto walls a few weeks back? Didn't Catlynn say the wanderer she met told the story of two Mason's and a group of friends frying their electric wall and taking down an overlord a peg or two?" Abagail looked at her brother for confirmation.

"Yes. But can we trust a wanderer? I mean i want this to be true and we did see the Mech's go down but what if we go out full force and its a trap? We have alot of people to think about here."

"Maybe if we had a way of contacting the group we could meet up and confirm." Abagails' dad turned to Phil Ned one of the scientists he had come to rely on. "Is there any way of finding out where that transmission is coming from?"

Phil looked at his shoes while he thought.

"It would take alot of time. I'm not familiar with the technology. But i we can make our own and send it out through the same system. Maybe they will hear it."

"Okay, and as soon as we get all those children taken care of I want all the patrols out. Let's find out what really going on out there. I want each team to have at one of the enhanced Mech gun. We aren't going to take any chances."

The room began to clear as people went to work. Abagail started to get up and her dad turned to her.

"Not you. You have done enough. Get some sleep."

Abagail wanted to object but he was right. She was barely able to sit up straight she wouldn't be able to do her job on patrol. Abagail laid back on the bed as her dad picked up the radio and left the room with Phil, leaving her alone in the room. The message ran through her mind as she closed her eyes. She couldn't help but hope that the message was true. She drifted off to sleep thinking of ways to contact the group on the message.


End file.
